The best known applications for compact scanning telescopic systems are military in nature. In these applications, the scanning telescope is positioned to look down from the underside of an aircraft's nose. From this position, the telescope can scan the terrain over which the aircraft is passing to find potential targets using both the visible and infrared spectrums. Outside of the obvious military applications, there are other applications in ecology and farming. For example, the look-down scanning telescopic systems are useful in identifying diseased trees or crops. Further, infrared and visible light scanning can be effective in finding missing persons in search and rescue operations.
In each of these applications, the design requirements for the scanning telescope are essentially similar. That is, the scanning telescope must be compact and lightweight so that it does not impair the performance of the airplane in which it is mounted. Further, since in many applications, the scanning telescope will be placed in the nose of the aircraft, the width of the system should be minimized in favor of length. Additionally, the telescope should be mechanically robust to withstand the vibrations found on aircraft.